Friction-shoe for musical-instrument playing mechanism.



G. H. DAVIS. FRICTION SHOE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PLAYING MECHANISMS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.3,1906. 923,148. Patented June 1, 1909.

GEORGE HOWLETT DAVIS, OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

FRICTION-SHOE FOR MUSICAL-INSTRUMENT PLAYING MECHANISMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1909.

Application filed January 3, 1906. Serial No. 294,456.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HOWLETT DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at West Orange, in the county-of Essex and State of New Jersey, have inyented new and useful Improvements in Friction-Shoes for Musical-Instrument Playing Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention has to do generally with the actuating mechanism of self-playing musical instruments, or musical instrument players, wherein is embodied a rotary element, such as a shaft, drum or roll and a plurality of friction shoes constructed and arranged to bebrought into and out of contact with said rotary element and to be operated thereby to cause the sound producing devices (such as the hammers of a piano) to be actuated; but specifically, the invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the friction shoes themselves. Heretofore such friction shoes have been provided with friction faces of cork or other suitable material attached thereto by means of glue, and,

by reason of the nature of the sole or facing, the glue has worked into the body thereof, and at times entirely therethrough, detract- I ing materially from the effectiveness thereof for the purposes intended, and causing the shoes to slip more or less upon the surface of the actuating element or roll.

It has been found that the permeation of the friction facing by the lue.deadens the same, or takes the life out o .it as it were,'destroIy-ing the desirable frictional holding qua ity thereof. Furthermore, actual and continued use of the shoe and roll mechanism.

of the character described, has demonstrated that thefriction face of the shoe, orthat face which makes the contact with shaft or roll, sooner or later becomes so worn as to render it inactive or nonresponsive to its demands,

and to overcome'this objection it has been necessary either to substitute new shoes for those that have become worn, or, where the shoes have been previously provided with permanently attached faces, (which faces ave heretofore been aflixed with glue).to.

remove said'faces and apply new ones. To substitute new shoes is not only very expensive, but considerable time and labor inreassembling is re uired, as each new shoe must be separate y readjusted. To remove old and worn-out shoe-faces, that were i attached in the first instance with glue, has been found to be inconvenient for the reason that the operations of stripping and craping the shoes almost invariably result in breaking or bending the supporting means or elements therefor if an attempt is made to do this work without detaching the shoes, and to detach and then reassemble them is costly. To obviate these difiiculties which now exist,

have provided a friction-shoe with adetachable face that can be easily and quickly attached or removed as occasion demands, without removing the shoe from its carrying element and without the utilization of glue, asheretofore practiced.

The present invention, therefore, resides, broadly,-in providing a friction shoe of the character described with a removable facing or coverin and also in the provision of a "friction-shoe having such a facing connected thereto by mechanical devices as contradistinguished from the attachment thereof by means of glue or other adhesive.

In the accom anying drawing I have shown, by way 0 examples, several specifically different forms of friction shoes and facings, and means of attachment thereof to the shoes.

In said drawingFigure 1 is an elevation of a friction-shoe, provided with a facing according to my invention, and showing the shoe-actuating element in section. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the shoe facing illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig.3 isan elevation. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a different form of shoefaci'ng and-attaching device. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of-a different form of shoe and facing therefor, according to my invention. Fig. '6 is an end view thereof showing the foot of theshoe and the facing in section 7 shows the application to the toe of the shoe of a wear piece, and also shows said wear piece and its holder separated In the said drawing the reference numeral 1 designates the friction-shoe, two forms of which are shown as examples.

2 designates the shoe-actuating element, shown as a rotatable roll which works against the convex end or sole of the shoe. The sole of the shoeis' rovided with a facing of some suitable, flexi 1e, yielding or resilient material, having a frictional "ca acity, such'that the actuation of theslioe by the actuating element is insured. The; facing 4 may be constructed of rubber, leather or of cork, or

* of other suitable material, and is, as shown in i I Fig. 2 of the drawing, in the form of a strip of a length suitable to cover the sole of the shoe and have it's ends turned u about the toe and heel thereof, as shown in ig. 1, to be detachably connected to the shoe. For this ,purpose, and as-one example of my invention, the shoe-sole facing has combined therewith, loops 5 which are connected thereto by foldiug the ends of the facing strip through the loops and attaching such ends tothe body portion, as best shown in Fig. 3. The loops illustrated are of triangular-shape, but as to In Figs. -5 and 6 the sole-facing shown.

consists of a .pair of endless'elastic bands 8 preferably of rubber normally of a circuit less than the circuit of the surface of the foot of the shoe, which bands may be stretched and disposed upon the foot of the shoe as shown and closely hug the same and main ta n their position in use. In this example of my invention, and withoutdesiring, in

the broader aspects thereof, to limit myself thereto, but for which, because of the value of the special construction, a specific claim by which the influenceof the action of the SlIOGlS transmitted to the sound producing is hereinafter made, the shoe consists of a head '9, to which is attached the element 10 device, such as a hammer of the piano, (not .shown); and a foot' portion 11 connected with the head bya relatively thin web 12, preferably of metal, and having connection with the head .and foot as by means of pins as shown; The foot portion projects latere ally at opposite sides of the web as best shown in Fig. 6 to receiving. wings 13. he friction shoes described, are as "stated, ada ted for cooperation with an actuating e ement by which the shoes, are made in a known manner to cause the operation of sound producing deviceslsuch as the hammers of-the piano) of musical instruments and a detail description of such corelated mechanism or illus' trationthereof is not deemed essential, butforthe purpose .of illustrating in a general way, the operative situation of the shoes, I

.' have shown inthe drawing, conventionally,

the magnet rail14 supporting magnets 15, the armatures 16 of which are combined rovide endless band with the shoesfor the purpose of placing the soles of the shoes in operative contact with the actuating element 2. Such magnets constitute elements of well known mechanism and may be energized in anyof the well known manners, but since such mechanism and manners of energizing the magnets are not concerned in the present invention, the same arenot illustrated or described. The wear of. the friction shoe facing first manifests itself-and in practice has been found tobe, greatest at the toe of,

-the.shoe,as said toe rides on of the prime actuator referred to. To increase the life of the facing at this point I have designed, I in one aspect of my invention, to provide a protector for the toe corner of the shoe, one suitable arrangement of which is illusi trated in Fig. 7 of the drawing, and is shown, for example, in connectionwith the type of shoe and shoe sole facing, illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. This device consists of a wear piece 17 preferably of rawhide or similar tough material secured to the toe part of the shoe with its'active end in position to contact with the prime actuator as the toe of the shoe rides off therefrom, and sustain the wear at this point, thus preserving the shoe sole facing proper and increasing the life thereof.

The'wear piece 17 may be secured in position in any suitable way, for example, by means of a holder'l-S' which may be attached to the toe part of the shoe bymeans of a screw as shown, and having lateral wings which may.

be folded about and into clamping enga ement therewith, as illustrated in Fig. 7. n this figure the view at the left shows the wear piece assembled, and in operative relationand this figure also shows the same and its holder separated as-well as the holder with its lateralwings folded about and clasping'105 the wearpiece.

According to each example of .my nvention shown, the facing is attached to the shoe without the employment of glue or other adhesive, and therefore,- avoids the objections 11o to suchprevious manners of attachment which are hereinbefore .set forth. The attachment is made by mechanical means,

.several examples of which are shown in the drawing, in such manner that when the soles 1 15 become worn, as referred to, they may be readilydetached from the shoes without in any, way disturbingthe adjustment of the latter or without removing the same from their embodimentin the mechanism for the purposeof a plying new friction soles.

The detac able friction shoe facing of my invention isof economical manufacture, and can be supplied in quantity to purchasers of instruments 'in which the frictlon shoes are incorporated; and the arrangementfo'r connection of the facings. to the shoes-isofsuch simple character that when they become I worn they may be readily disconnected from theshoes and new ones supplied without special skill.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new is 1. A friction shoe having a detachable face, and means carried by said detachable face whereby itmay be attached to the shoe.

2. A friction shoe having a detachable face, and'means-c-arried by said detachable face at its op osite ends whereby it may be attached to the shoe.

3. A friction shoe having a detachable face, and means carried by theshoe and the detachable faoe whereby said-face may be attached to the shoe.

4. A friction shoe having a detachable face of resilient material, and means carried by the shoe and the face whereby the latter may be attached to the shoe, said face adapt: ed to lie in close contact throughout with the sole of the shoe.

5. A friction shoe having a detachable face and members at op osite ends of said detachable face, and on t 1e shoe adjacent its heel; and toe ortions whereby said detachable face may e attached to the shoe.

- 6. A friction shoe having a convex sole, and a detachable facing or covering extending over said sole and in close contact therewith, means carried by said detachable facing at its opposite ends and by the shoe adjacentits toe and heel ortions whereby said covering may be attaclied to the shoe.

7. A friction shoe of the character described, having a detachable face, and

-means engaging the o posite ends of said face and the toe and 'reel portions o'l' the shoe for securing the face in position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit nesses.

. G. HOWLETT DAVIS.

Witnesses: I I

GEO. W. REA, I GERTRUDE M. STUGKER. 

